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Data breaches under the GDPR - will the sky come crashing down on British Airways?
11 September 2018Between 21 August and 5 September, British Airways (“BA”) suffered a data breach - in essence, its systems were “hacked”. This has affected the personal data of around 380,000 individuals. Following an announcement through BA’s Twitter account, the story was quickly picked up by mainstream media outlets, demonstrating the significant publicity that such events can generate in a short space of time.
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SFO V ENRC: Landmark privilege decision by Court of Appeal
10 September 2018The Court of Appeal has handed down its much anticipated decision in the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited (“ENRC”) appeal. In a judgment that will leave many lawyers breathing a heavy sigh of relief, the Court of Appeal overturned large parts of Mrs Justice Andrews’ first instance decision.
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Fragmentation of activity may preclude service provision change
06 September 2018The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has confirmed that when considering whether or not there has been a TUPE service provision change (“SPC”), it is critical to identify the relevant activity. The analysis must be done in the right order and any fragmentation should be considered when considering if activities carried on by the subsequent service provider are fundamentally the same as those carried on by the outgoing service provider.
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TUPE and the transfer of public administrative functions
06 September 2018In a case about whether TUPE applied to the transfer of a public health team commissioning services, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has considered points of appeal in relation to two seldom litigated provisions of TUPE.
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Five-month cessation of activities does not prevent transfer of undertaking under EU law
04 September 2018In a Spanish case, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has ruled that a five-month break in activities between outsourcing contracts did not prevent the transfer of an undertaking under the 2001 EU Acquired Rights Directive (“ARD”).
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UK immigration system “almost impossible to navigate”
04 September 2018Last week The Guardian published an article about the volume of UK immigration laws and the frequency of changes and amendments to them. This was sparked by some damning remarks from Lord Justice Irwin who said that the system is “something of a disgrace” and almost impossible to navigate.
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Sports Q&A - EU trade marks post-Brexit
03 September 2018We hold registered EU trade marks to protect our tournament name and logos. Post-Brexit will we still have protection in the UK?
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‘Loophole’, or lobbying for change?
31 August 2018Migration Watch UK has recently published a paper drawing attention to a perceived abuse by certain employers of part of the UK’s immigration system. Distortion of the ICT visa system suggests that the Tier 2 (Intracompany Transfer) (‘ICT’) visa route is currently being exploited by employers who are ‘undercutting the domestic labour market’. The ‘law that is’ and the ‘law that ought to be’ by nature pull in opposite directions. Taking UK immigration law as a ‘closed circuit’, the use of the word ‘loophole’ might better be categorised by some as simply ‘poor regulation’.
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Commercial Court confirms that Recast Brussels Regulation does not permit intra-EU anti-suit injunctions
21 August 2018The decision in Nori Holdings has reaffirmed that West Tankers remains an authoritative statement of EU law, providing welcome clarity following the introduction of the Recast Brussels Regulation and Advocate General Wathelet’s comments in Gazprom. However, whether or not the UK courts will regain the ability to grant anti-suit injunctions restraining proceedings in EU courts after the UK leaves the EU remains to be seen.
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Residents of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau will not require work permits when they are hired by enterprises on the Chinese mainland potentially as soon as September 2018
10 August 2018On 3 August the State Council in China made an announcement to the effect that residents of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau will not be obliged to apply for work permits in order to be employed by enterprises on the Chinese mainland, under a new proposal set to operate from September 2018.
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Bad leaver provisions enforceable as not penalties
03 August 2018In the recent case of Signia Wealth Limited v Vector Trustees Limited, the court held that the company’s bad leaver provisions (pursuant to which a leaving shareholder was compelled to sell their shares for less than their value) did not fall foul of the penalty doctrine and were therefore enforceable.
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Sports Q&A – Maternity leave and equal opportunities
31 July 2018Was it fair for Serena Williams to be seeded at Wimbledon?
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Science and technology committee calls for free movement of skilled workers
31 July 2018To some of us, science has an ethereal power. It creates and changes the rules rather than simply being bound by then. So it comes as no surprise that the science and technology committee has suggested free movement of scientists (and all skilled workers) to the UK. Albeit for only 180 days.
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Can we remove “limited” from the end of our company name?
30 July 2018In certain circumstances a private limited company can apply to Companies House to be registered with a name that does not have “limited” (or the Welsh equivalent) at the end. This article summarises the circumstances of this exemption.
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Brexit part 3 - this time it’s temporary
27 July 2018While nothing in British politics should surprise us any more, the timing of the Government’s latest White Paper on Brexit – unveiled the day before Parliament broke up for the summer – seems to have caught out many MPs as well as the media.
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Workplace sexual harassment – Women and Equalities Committee urges radical reform
26 July 2018The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (“WEC”) has published a report on sexual harassment in the workplace highlighting five points on which they are calling on the Government to take action. This follows an inquiry that was launched in February.
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Care workers not entitled to minimum wage for sleep-in shifts
18 July 2018In a case of huge significance for the care sector, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) has decided that care workers carrying out “sleep-in” shifts are not entitled to the national minimum wage (“NMW”) for the whole shift, but only when they are required to be awake and working.
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Where might the Government’s Brexit White Paper lead us?
17 July 2018Although massively contentious, the Government’s White Paper proposals on the relationship between the UK and the EU post-Brexit add some flesh to the bones of what future interrelation between the two entities might look like. What are the key points for employment lawyers?
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Voluntary overtime to be included in holiday pay for NHS staff
12 July 2018In the latest decision on the vexed question of the correct calculation of holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations (“WTR”), the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has ruled that both non-guaranteed and voluntary overtime should be included in the calculation under the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service
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Free trade and controlling free movement - can the UK and the EU square the circle (18 months on)?
05 July 2018The Brexit rollercoaster continues to rattle along as we hurtle towards 29 March 2019, the projected date for the UK to leave the EU.